Lobah
Country: Saudi Arabia
Founded: 2024
Team Size: 60+
Platforms: Mobile (iOS, Android), PC
Status: Active
Website: https://lobah.com/
Overview
Lobah is a Saudi game developer and publisher headquartered in Riyadh, with additional offices in Singapore and Warsaw. The studio was founded by CEO Eisa Atawi and operates across two product lines: first-party game development and Lobah Play, a mobile gaming hub and publishing platform designed to serve both players and developers across the MENA region.
The studio's development approach is rooted in cultural authenticity, building games that draw on Saudi and broader Arabian heritage for both regional and global audiences. Lobah Play is ad-free by default and built around revenue-sharing models, with the studio positioning itself as a publishing partner that brings localisation expertise and an established MENA user base to third-party developers.
Its most ambitious title to date is Samla, a post-apocalyptic Arabian-inspired world where surviving champions compete, currently in development for PC. Live titles include Jackaroo Strike, a digital adaptation of the popular regional board game, alongside casual and social titles on the Lobah Play platform.
Lobah is aligned with Saudi Vision 2030 and has secured $12 million in funding from Saudi Arabia's Social Development Bank. Lobah was formed by combining a company with 20 years in mobile social gaming with Atawi's own MAU Games, which he built over 14 years.
Games
- Samla
- Jackaroo Strike
- Kingdom of Letters (Coming Soon)
- Habhab
- Snakes & Ladders
- Kix
Intelligence
Lobah is operating a dual-track model that few studios in MENA are attempting at this scale. The first track is Lobah Play, a publishing and distribution platform built to solve the discovery and user acquisition problem for MENA developers by aggregating players into a single hub. The second track is first-party IP development, anchored by Samla, which represents a significant genre and platform leap from the studio's current mobile-casual catalogue.
The tension worth watching is whether Lobah can execute both tracks simultaneously. Building and scaling a platform while developing a hero battle royale for PC are fundamentally different operational challenges, and the studio is attempting both with a team that was at 60+ employees at the time of the interview and projecting a potential doubling. Rapid headcount growth at this stage introduces execution risk, particularly for the Samla project which sits in a globally competitive genre.
The $12 million raise from the Social Development Bank is strategically notable. It is institutional, government-adjacent funding, which in the Saudi context carries implicit alignment with Vision 2030 objectives. This gives Lobah a degree of stability that purely commercially funded studios in the region lack, but also suggests its growth narrative is partially tied to national ecosystem goals rather than pure market performance.
Lobah Play's ad-free positioning is a deliberate differentiation in a market where ad-heavy casual games dominate. The revenue-sharing model it offers third-party developers is presented as generous, though specific terms have not been disclosed publicly. Its ability to deliver on the discovery and user acquisition promise for publishing partners is the core commercial test for the platform.
Funding & Backing
- $12 million raised from Saudi Arabia's Social Development Bank
- Capital stage: Institutional/government-backed
Strategic Model
- Platform direction: Mobile-first via Lobah Play; PC expansion through Samla
- Core genres: Social, casual, board game adaptations, hero battle royale
- Monetisation approach: Ad-free Lobah Play with revenue-sharing for third-party publishers; IAP-driven for standalone titles
- Geographic focus: MENA primary, global ambition
- Positioning: Dual-track platform operator and first-party IP developer
Active & Upcoming Projects
- Samla (PC, hero battle royale, in development)
- Jackaroo Strike (Live, iOS and Android)
- Kingdom of Letters (Coming soon)
- Habhab (Live)
- Snakes & Ladders (Live via Lobah Play)
- Kix (Live via Lobah Play)
Key People
- Eisa Atawi, CEO
- Ibrahim El Kawam, VP of Product and Strategy
Accepting introduction requests: TBC
Last verified - August 2026